BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- A group of Palestinian school teachers were briefly detained on Thursday morning by Israeli forces while on their way to school in the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, according to official Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned Wafa news agency.

Wafa reported that the teachers, all women, were heading to the Qurtoba school in the Old City when Israeli soldiers stationed at a military checkpoint on al-Shuhada street prevented them from passing through.

It was only after intervention from the Red Cross and the Palestinian liaison that the soldiers allowed the teachers to pass. The reason for their brief detention, which caused delays in class schedules at the school, remained unclear.

Meanwhile, Wafa added that Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters at schools in the southern area of Hebron city, causing several students to suffer from severe tear-gas inhalation, suffocation and unconsciousness.

Palestinian residents of the Old City face a large Israeli military presence on a daily basis, with at least 32 permanent and partial checkpoints set up at the entrances of many streets.

Additionally, Palestinians are not allowed to drive on al-Shuhada street, have had their homes and shops on the street welded shut, and in some areas of the Old City, are not permitted to walk on certain roads.